A Ranma ½ / Yu Yu Hakusho / Sakura Wars / Inu Yasha / Darkstalkers / Devil May Cry / Multi-crossover

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ and Yu Yu Hakusho or any other anime/game titles for that matter. Though I sometimes wish I was a class-S youkai…heh.

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"Where are you going?"

Lilith giggled as she twirled in midair. "Oh, don't get your hopes up. I'm not gonna leave you yet. There's an old, abandoned town a few miles north, we could rest there for awhile. Be careful though, rumor has it that there are a few nasty demons hiding deep inside the town's catacombs, but we don't have to worry about it too much right? After all, you fought one of the rulers of Makai and lived to tell about it! Granted that it may not have been him directly but it's close enough, right?"

"Yeah, great… whatever you say. Let's just get there as soon as possible." Ranma sighed out. Well, they have been flying for several hours so they really could use some rest. Makai was much larger than what he had initially thought. If what Lilith said was true, then they were just in one of the many levels of this realm. According to her, they were currently in the main land within Makai called 'Matairiku', the demon land. Simply put, this was the 'safest' part of the realm.

One other thing that continued to baffle him was none other than this succubus in front of her. Her aura was almost the same as his or as Raizen would put it, her aura resembled that of the Dohma family. That little fact made him wonder about this person he was supposed to look for. Does that person really have the same aura as hers? No matter, he'll find out soon enough. "I see the town. Well? Are you coming or what?"

Lilith gave a soft, mischievous giggle, as she nodded her head in affirmative.

===

Dark Ascension

By Insane Blight

Dark Realm Under Siege

"Uhn! That feels good!" Lilith exclaimed as she swam in a lake located just outside the town. There was nothing wrong with it, unless you consider the fact that the lake water was mixed with demon blood.

Ranma sat on a dead field and watched the girl's antics with a rather indifferent look. "Hey, I was wondering, I've heard a lot about the various demons in Makai but I don't know much about a succubus. All I know is that your kind absorbs the spirit of the opposite sex and then you use it as your energy source. Care to tell me more? I am rather interested in another demon's life."

Lilith smiled. At least he finally started a conversation. "Well, technically, yes, that's what we do but from the family I come from, we vary a little differently from the rest of the succubus race. You can say that we are… special in more ways than one."

"Oh really?" he deadpanned. "May I ask what is so special about you? Besides the obvious fact of you being a flat-chested little girl? Oh! Don't tell me, you invade the dreams of old pedophiles right? Well, am I right?"

Boom!

Ranma didn't even react when Lilith threw an energy blast his way. Heck, he didn't even flinch when the blast was just inches away from his face when it traveled past him. He looked over his shoulder for a minute before looking back at the flying, naked, glowing succubus. "I take it that you didn't like the things that I said?" he asked in his usual oh-so-innocent tone.

"Who in their right mind would like to be called that?!" she screamed. "I am not a little girl and I do not get turned on by grumpy old men! Hmph! For your information, I'm a lot older than I look. I bet that I'm even a lot older than you!"

"I was trying to give you a compliment…" he muttered, then he smirked when he heard her say that. "Is that a fact? I know that demons have a much longer lifespan than humans so I am rather curious. I'm seventeen years old, how about you? Just how old are you?" he asked with a smile.

Lilith crossed her arms, flew up, still not minding the fact that she was currently nude, and smiled proudly. "Ha, I'm roughly around three hundred years old! Suck on that, BOY!" she mocked but she blinked when Ranma just rolled on the floor and laughed out loud. "Hey! What are you laughing at?!"

Tears were forming around his eyes when he said, "Bwahahahaha! I'm sorry… heheh, it's just that… I just find it funny that… hehehahah… you have lived for over three hundred years and you still haven't grown past puberty? It… it's just… oh, I don't know… bwahahahahaha!"

The succubus blushed a bit as she sank back into the lake. "Sh-shut up! This is not my real body! It's just that this was the form I wanted to be at the time, the time when he decided to give me a body." she finished in a whisper.

"Wait a sec, 'given' to you?" Ranma asked, slightly confused at what she said. To tell the truth, he was kind of surprised that he was enjoying this conversation with her. Sure, she was childish at times but now that he thought about it, so was he. The fact that she was a demon and not a human being was also a good thing, or else he would've killed her already.

"It's nothing important." 'To you anyway.' she thought with a sigh. "Anyway, I told you that my family is different from the rest of the succubus race. No, we are not flat-chested little girls so stop smiling! Geez, what a psycho, first he snubs me now he's become 'friendly' all of a sudden." she mumbled as she took a few glances at him. "AHEM! As I was saying, we create a special liquid in our bodies when we are either physically or mentally stimulated…"

"By old men?"

Lilith face faulted. She twitched a bit as she gave Ranma a cold glare. "Will you stop it?! It's getting rather old. Sheesh, now where was I… oh yes, the liquid… well, this liquid basically is what keeps us going. However, that's not the only way for us to survive. Like the rest, we can also try the usual method, which is to peer into the dreams of others. It doesn't matter if it is a demon or a human, we can absorb their energies easily." she finished with a slight moan.

"So in other words, you prolong your lives by getting turned on or by stealing people's dreams."

"Er, that's a simple way of putting it. Anyhow, that's all there is to know…" she answered while she licked her fingers. 'His blood… I just have to see this myself.' "That's basically how we live."

Ranma scratched his head. "Isn't that a lot of trouble for getting the one you want? I mean, isn't there, hmm, an easier way to get it?"

The purple-haired girl absently placed a finger on her lips. "Hmm… well, there is another way that we can use. A way that doesn't involve any sort of method, we just, oh to be blunt, suck our victim's energies without any of the hassle I said earlier. A more, direct approach if you would." She had a playful glint in her eye as she gazed at the teen. "I could show it to you, but I don't think that you'll like it."

"Come on, show me. I'd really love to see what you're talking about."

"Sigh, if you say so…" Lilith smiled mischievously. Oh well, he asked for it.

The succubus flew out of the lake, went over to Ranma's spot, and placed her hands on his cheeks. Before Ranma could even react, the succubus forcefully pulled him in for a kiss. Soon after, she began to force her tongue inside his mouth, to which she found no resistance from him whatsoever, much to her surprise. What happened next was what she expected, maybe even more. Her powers immediately began to return to her faster than ever. She was right about him. Ranma's power was almost the same as the person who gave her this body, thus making her recovery a lot faster.

Just then, she was caught by surprise when Ranma suddenly pushed her back. She giggled and licked her lips in amusement but then she noticed that he was having a hard time breathing. He was also wide-eyed as he coughed violently. That wasn't supposed to happen. He should only feel drained, nothing more. Fortunately, she has already seen this kind of reaction once, but that was with a… human. She bit her lip as she hesitantly kneeled beside him. "Um, by any chance, do you have human blood in you?"

"It… cough… took you this long to… figure it out? And I thought I already mentioned it to you?!" he replied with a murderous glare.

Lilith looked thoughtful for a moment. "Hmm… oh yeah, so you did… er, sorry, I kinda forgot." she said sheepishly as she scratched the back of her head.

"Gah! What… what did you do to me? I feel like I've been poisoned and… and…" he didn't want to finish it, but Lilith nodded in understanding when she saw the slight blush that creased his face.

The succubus chuckled nervously. "I guess your human side can still be affected by one of our abilities. Don't worry. The effect should wear off in a few minutes… I think…" she assured him, or at least tried to.

Ranma seethed. "You think? What does that mean?!"

Lilith smiled wanly. "Well, either that or you die. You know, either your demon blood counteracts it or you simply die, kick the bucket and all that stuff. I never really tried it with a hybrid so I don't know what will happen to you."

"Couldn't you have told me about this first before you kissed me?"

Lilith shrugged. "You never asked."

True enough, after ten or so minutes, the effect indeed wore off. Ranma was sprawled on the floor, breathing heavily, and a red tint was still on his cheeks. He could tell that his powers were almost nil, which of course made him twitch a little. He looked to his side and saw that Lilith, who was now dressed, if you can call it a dress, was still sitting beside him with a nervous smile on her face. "Well, isn't this great? Now my powers are back to when you originally found me." he grumbled.

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" she frantically apologized. "At least now we know that your body has the ability to withstand a kiss from my kind." She cringed when Ranma's eyes narrowed. "Sorry!"

Ranma sighed and shook his head. "Forget it. I didn't die from it anyway. Can you at least give me a little bit of your powers like the time you healed me?" he asked hopefully.

Lilith bit her lip and shook her head no. "Um, it doesn't work that way. What I did just now, I absorbed your powers into myself, but the one I transferred onto you that time was not energy per se, it was, um, it was…"

"It was what? Come on, spill it, I don't have all day."

"A soul…" she finished. Seeing Ranma's raised eyebrow, she sighed and decided to explain a little. "Where do I start? Um, there are a few demon families who can absorb souls, or spirits or whatever you prefer to call them. They absorb them directly and use it as energy, the succubus and the incubus race are the primary examples of this. Well, I sensed that you probably came from a family that simply thrives on souls so I took a chance and transferred one to you. As I thought, you instinctively converted it to energy."

Ranma chuckled a little. "You mean to tell me that I just assimilated a soul without even knowing about it?"

"Yup."

The hybrid smiled. "Oho! This is great, next thing you're gonna tell me is that the soul you gave me was from a human being…" his smile widened when Lilith nodded her head. "This is wonderful! No wonder it felt so familiar, the soul was human! I just have to learn how to do that! Lilith, can you teach me how to siphon a human soul? Can you? Can you?"

Lilith felt very uneasy when she stared right into his eyes. 'Oh boy, if that hate isn't directed towards humans, then I will gladly end my search for my body.' "It's not that easy you know, but I guess I can teach you when you've recovered enough." She sweatdropped when Ranma began chuckling evilly to himself. Weird and creepy, that was all she could say about him.

A few hours had passed, Lilith eventually dosed off under a tree while Ranma sat on one of the tree's branches and was seemingly in deep thought. 'Raizen, Mukuro, and Yomi, the three rulers of Makai. Do they really possess that much power? Are they unbeatable? Raizen just toyed with me, he treated me as if I was nothing. Worst part was that he wasn't even in his body. Grr, no, I'll get stronger, I will bring him down to his knees and make him beg for his life!'

He was brought out of it when something fell into his lap. It was an apple, or it looked like an apple. Glancing around, he noticed that it came from the tree. He studied the fruit in his hand before shrugging to himself. 'I am a little hungry. Eh, what's the worse that could happen?' With that, he took a bite out of it.

"AAAHHHHH!! That fruit!!! Don't eat it!!!"

Ranma wasn't listening though. He casually took another bite out of it before looking down and addressing the frantic succubus. "Huh? What about this fruit? You should try some, it's really good."

Lilith gaped at him, highly puzzled as to why it didn't seem to affect the teen. "Are you alright…? You don't feel sick, do you? You don't feel like throwing up your insides? You don't feel like something is eating you alive? You really don't feel like something is wrong with you?"

"…Nope… should I?"

"Of course you should dimwit! That's a Makai evil fruit! It is poisonous to everyone, including demons! So why are you not dropping dead?!" Lilith screamed until her face was flushed.

Ranma looked at her oddly, then shrugged his shoulders and continued eating.

It was now night at the town where the two were staying at. Ranma had fallen asleep on a familiar tree branch while Lilith said that she'd go to sleep in one of the abandoned houses, obviously still stunned by the fact that Ranma was immune to the poison of the Makai evil fruit. He actually smiled and ate around ten to twenty more when she told him that demons immediately die when they take a bite out of it.

Lilith was not asleep though. Thanks to Ranma, she actually had more than enough energy to stay awake for almost a week if she wanted to. She was lying on the roof of an abandoned house with an impatient look, as if she was tired of waiting for someone or something. She finally gave off a sigh of relief when she heard a buzzing sound behind her. "You're late. I wonder what Q-bee does to drones that are late." She smirked upon hearing a frantic buzz in response.

"Relax, I was just kidding, but do not let it happen again." Lilith growled the last part out. She sat up and looked over her shoulder, where a humanoid bee was hovering a few feet above her. "I know that he wants a report but I haven't done much yesterday. Well, I did manage to trick someone from the cat-women race to go to his dimension, but that's not important." She motioned for the bee to come closer. "I found someone, a hybrid, one that has powers similar to his. Surprising, huh? Tell him that I'll bring the hybrid when I get the chance."

The bee nodded and immediately flew away, but not before casting a glance at the sleeping hybrid. Lilith watched the humanoid bee's departure before she smirked to herself. She stretched her arms and wings as she said, "Yup, I'll bring him to you once he locates my 'sister'." she whispered as she curled up and went to sleep.

Back at the large tree, Ranma turned a couple of times in his sleep. Quite a feat considering that the tree branch was a little smaller than him. "First a succubus, then a humanoid bee… I wonder what I'll see next." he muttered as he went back to sleep.

Poke.

"Mnnn, go away Oniichan, I don't wanna train today."

Poke. Poke.

"I said go away!"

Thwack!

Ranma's eyes snapped open when he heard a shrill scream. He sat up from the branch and looked to his side, where a certain, flying succubus was busy rubbing the newly formed lump on her head. "What do you want Lilith? Can't you see I'm trying to sleep here?"

Lilith pouted. "Owie!" she exclaimed as she glared at the hybrid, but the cute pout on her face ruined the whole thing. "Ohhh, a simple sorry would've been nice. Come on, get up. We're demons, and from what I can tell, you are a night creature just like me so rise and shine! Please? I have something I need to show you."

"Give it a rest. Unlike me, you haven't been drained of your energy." He grumbled as he stretched his wings and used them to cover his body. "Go bother somebody else or go get yourself stimulated or something, just leave me alone. I want to sleep, it's not everyday you get the life drained out of you."

"Oh, let it go, will you? Oh, I thought you were at least a gentleman around women, but I guess demons like you really have no time for manners. Oh dear, what is Makai coming to?" Lilith sighed dramatically.

The hybrid literally froze. He turned around and looked into Lilith's face with an impassive look. "Oh that? Sure! I'm a gentleman to women, not to some granny in the guise of a little girl."

"Why you…!"

Ranma smiled when Lilith's wings stretched to impossible angles before morphing into several spikes. 'So that's how it's done. You will it with a huge amount of youki. Heh, it could be useful… if I had my powers.' He finished the thought with a frown. He was snapped out of it when Lilith attacked him with speed that was hauntingly similar to his. It wasn't long until he received several cuts and slashes on his body, mostly on his arms. "Okay! I'm sorry for making fun of you. I'll try not to do it again."

Lilith's wings extended forward, hitting Ranma dead-on. "Not good enough!"

"Alright, I'll never make fun of you again! Period!" he avowed as he flew down. "You're not a little girl and you're not a granny either, okay? Are you happy?" Lilith's youki flared to life, which made him cringe involuntarily. With his current condition, who could blame him? "Ah, um, you're beautiful, cute, exotic, and um… eccentric? Er, in a good way of course."

Lilith's red aura dissipated and a huge smile quickly replaced the scowl she had earlier. "There, see? You can say the sweetest things if you want to." she said in a sweet voice.

Scary, especially the mood changes, that was all he could think of her. Ranma shook his head. Women, he'll never understand them. Correction: demonic little girls, he'll never understand them, women were a close second. He winced when his wounds made themselves known, though what happened next left him with quite a dumbfounded look. Lilith knelt beside him, grabbed one of his arms with unexpected gentleness, and one by one, she began to lick the wounds that she herself made.

"What do you think you're doing?" No response. "Uh, can you stop for a moment?" Once again, there was no response. A subtle blush eventually appeared on Ranma's face as Lilith continued to 'soothe his wounds'. Ranma gritted his teeth. Has she forgotten already? Her saliva has a very powerful lustful effect! Damn succubus. "Uh, um, what was it that you wanted to show me?"

Lilith licked the wounds one last time. "Umm, that was delicious. Huh? Oh, that's right. I remember seeing a number of wandering spirits around this place when we flew down, we can use them to train you in absorbing energies. You'll also recover some of your strength in the process so you don't have to whine about me draining you anymore."

"…And you didn't tell me about this earlier because…?"

"Tee-hee, I forgot."

Ranma just buried his face in his hand.

A sheepish Lilith and an irritated Ranma flew around the abandoned town in search for a few spirits to feast at. The hybrid's patience was really getting tested though, for it has been almost an hour and they have yet to find one single spirit. Luckily, the succubus flew down and landed near the town cemetery moments later. Ranma shrugged and followed her down. There was no point in staying in the air anyway.

"Look! I think I see a couple of them over there!"

Ranma's eyes narrowed as he tried to probe it, then sweated when he finished. "Uh, I don't think it's a spirit…"

Lilith didn't quite hear him because she already moved towards it. When she got close enough, she was pushed down to the ground when a loud roar greeted her instead. She rubbed her bottom, then looked up and gasped audibly. In front of her was a dog, a very big dog. It has two heads, razor sharp teeth that will make quick work out of anyone, and its body was the size of a two-storey house. 'Oh boy…'

"Uh, nice pet you got there, Lilith." 'Oookay… a succubus, a bee, and a Cerberus-type dog, wonder what's next on the list. I hope it's a cat!'

"N-N-Nice doggie… g-good doggie… pretty doggie…" Lilith said sweetly as she tried to appease the growling and obviously hungry creature in front of her.

Ranma took one step back as he gazed at the two-headed behemoth. If Lilith hadn't sucked his energy, he would've eagerly fought this creature by now. Sadly, such was not the case. He wasn't dumb. He knew when the odds were stacked against him. "I don't know about you, but I think now is a good time to run."

Back in Ningenkai, Urameshi Yusuke sat at a familiar spot on the school roof, even though it was past midnight. It has only been a day since their return from Makai so he still had his long hair and the various markings on his chest, arms, and face. His mother freaked when he came home looking like that but she quickly got over it with the help of a couple of drinks. Family, Koenma said that he probably was related to the bastard who controlled his body. Like hell. He'll never accept that, ever.

Before going back into the portal, they found Sensui's body a few miles from where they were at. He couldn't help but grit his teeth when he saw the ex-tantei's state. If his reiki powers did this much damage to Sensui, then what did a blast of youki could have possibly done to Ranma? He really wanted to stay in Makai to find that bastard and make him pay for using him but Koenma reminded him that the Makai door will close in a few weeks time and he may very well be trapped inside that realm.

The reaction from the group was as he expected. Kuwabara became adamant to leave the place when he heard about this, Hiei and Kurama had an indifferent look. Guess they could care less if they stayed in Makai or not, though there was a small doubt in Kurama's eyes, perhaps because he was thinking of his human mother. As for him, well, he was more than willing to go and find that demon but something stopped him. There was something, a feeling that he could not quite understand. In any case, that was what made him decide to go back to Ningenkai.

Yusuke gave off a light chuckle when he remembered the trouble Puu caused in Mushiyori City. Well, he was too big to hide so it couldn't be helped. Fortunately, Genkai suggested that Puu should stay with her at her temple. It was far enough and it was a little secluded so Puu will certainly fit right in.

"You know, thinking too much sometimes drives a person crazy."

Yusuke smiled. He looked up to the sky, sighed, and stood up. "And sneaking up on people is not a very nice thing to do, Kurama."

Kurama chuckled as he stepped out into the open, a few feet behind Yusuke. "Ha ha, I guess so."

The two leaned on the roof railing, as they looked down at the empty school yard below. Yusuke glanced at Kurama a few times. He never really thought that he would see a cold and ruthless side of the person beside him. Though he can't blame him, that so-called mother got on his nerves too. Hell, just thinking about her really tempted him to blast something, anything, with his reiki. Nodoka Saotome, or as the name she now preferred, Nodoka Kirishima, well, she'd be a cinch to win the bitch of the year award, that's for sure.

He guessed that the woman was the reason for Kurama's behavior. Frankly, he himself couldn't fathom growing up with someone like her. Now that he had time to think about it, he really can't blame Ranma for wanting to kill his own mother. If he was in his position, maybe he'd also do the same thing. He shook his head. Dammit, that was his demon side talking! "Do you think he's still alive?"

"I don't see him as someone who would die so easily." Kurama answered plainly. "The will of a person sometimes makes us do impossible things…" he trailed off.

"You mean his hatred for his mother…"

Kurama nodded sullenly, his fists clenching and unclenching. He himself once thought of humans as mere tools to be used, but his human mother changed all that. He simply can't understand Ranma's mother and her actions against her own child. At least demons showed some kind of sympathy for their family, but Nodoka was different, different from everyone. It was as if there was something else, something that goes beyond her present hatred towards her son. Regardless, he was certain that Ranma will be back in Ningenkai to settle it with her once and for all.

Yusuke placed a hand on Kurama's shoulder, which incited a small jerk from the redhead. "C'mon, let's go see Genkai and the rest."

The redhead smiled slightly. "Okay, but Keiko asked me to give you a haircut first."

Yusuke groaned. 'So that's why he's here!'

'Bored. I am sooooooo bored.' A mantra that eventually became a routine in the life of the succubus known as Morrigan Aensland. She was currently sitting on the edge of a tall building in Tokyo, gazing at the beauty of the full moon. She doesn't know why but she felt that something big was going to happen in Ningenkai. Perhaps it may even be something that she can enjoy. Hmph, the people of Reikai were nothing but fools. Did they really think that by sealing a mere gate, high-level demons such as her could not enter this human world anymore? Ha! If so, then they're even bigger fools than she first thought.

She frowned and snapped her head to the side when she felt a familiar presence headed her way. Demitri Maximov. She rolled her eyes. Doesn't that guy ever give up? She knew of a few obsessed-types but this was downright ridiculous. Berial, arguably the most powerful demon in Makai, passed away, but instead of living in peace, he had the nerve to challenge her. That's why she hated being the successor to the throne of the Aensland family. Even though there were others who took over for the three original rulers, most demons still consider her family as the most powerful. Flattering, yes, but annoying nonetheless.

Morrigan pursed her lips. Well, it wasn't like she was going to fight him any time soon. Besides, in her opinion, he was still not in her league. Does he really think that he can defeat her with such petty tricks that he learned from his banishment to Ningenkai? Oh please, she was born an S-class, and Demitri was a mere upper A-class at best. Still, it made her wonder, was she at her limit already? She doesn't seem to be gaining any more power no matter how hard she tried. It was as if something was preventing her from doing so. Her thoughts came back to Berial, well, he was the only one she knew that could do such a thing and it was just like him if he really did do something like that to her.

The succubus winced. She gently placed a hand on her face, as she hunched slightly. No, please, not the voice again. Ever since Berial died, she was plagued by this faint yet irksome voice that rang inside her head every now and then. The worst part of it was that during the past few months, it has unfortunately gotten stronger. She doesn't know whether to like it or hate it, she preferred the latter of course but she found out that she couldn't do that. For some reason, she can't find it in her heart to hate the voice. She doesn't know why but it felt like, well, to put it simply, a lost part of her. She had a few thoughts about it before but she never really paid much attention to it at the time.

Ah, forget it. Mr. I'm-lusting-for-you was closing in on her. She stood up and stretched her arms and wings. Taking one last look at the full moon, she flapped her wings and flew to the east, away from a certain vampire. "It's so boring. Hmm… come to think of it, I haven't gone back to Makai in quite awhile. Perhaps I'll pay my family a little visit. Hmn, maybe I can find some fun there too."

"Wai! This is so much fun! He's sooo cute like this!"

"Oh, come on." 'That's cute?'

Ranma and Lilith left the town and continued to travel north. Oh, the dog? Lilith 'tamed' it so that it will now follow her every word, a simple enticement spell did the trick. There was really nothing to it. Her experience with such things shouldn't be underestimated, Ranma made a quick mental note of that. Speaking of the succubus, she was currently riding the large demon dog while Ranma walked alongside them. Well, the hybrid and the dog never got along. Perhaps it was Lilith's doing, or it could be that the dog simply didn't like him. If it was the latter, he guessed it was due to his despicable human blood.

Oh well, it was truly a shame. He really wanted to play with the dog, but hey, at least he can still show the beast a neat twist in the popular trick, 'playing dead'. Cats, now there's a thought. He was quite fond of cats ever since he was a child. Oh, how he missed his furry little friends from the pit. He really liked how they played with his skin, specifically his face. He cheered up when he remembered what Lilith said. There was a race of cat-people in Makai. He hoped to meet them someday, they would really be interesting playmates. Unfortunately, he was still stuck with granny for the time being.

"Where are we headed again?"

Lilith tapped her lips. "Hmm? Oh, my family's castle lies to the north… at least I think its north, I have never been there much myself." She sweated a bit when Ranma's face darkened. "Er, um, I know that you're getting impatient but please bear with me for a few more days. I truly promise to leave you alone once you find her."

Ranma sighed heavily. "Fine, do whatever you wish, but if your succubus friends get any bright ideas…"

"I don't care about them. You can simply drain the life out of them for all I care. You are getting better at draining souls, aren't you? I mean, you did absorb almost every wandering soul in that town graveyard…" she trailed off. Who knew the hybrid was capable of consuming multiple souls at once? She should've seen it coming though, her 'master' was related to him after all.

"It's a bit frustrating, their souls were weak, not enough to restore a quarter of my powers. Besides, the method you taught me takes too long, it's pretty much useless in a fight. Although I have been thinking, there are other ways to absorb souls like…"

Lilith blinked, turning her head to the side. "Like…?"

Ranma smiled sweetly, and then he suddenly drove his hand inside the two-headed creature, scaring Lilith out of her wits. His sweet smile widened when his entire body was promptly splashed with demonic blood. He pulled his arm out a few seconds later, and he watched in amusement when the beast simply dropped dead. Then he gazed at his hand, where the beast's spirit shimmered in his grasp. "Heheheh… like this!" he shouted. He swiftly crushed the spirit in his hand to which he, in turn, automatically absorbed the remnants of energy into his body. "It's a lot easier this way, don't you think?"

"............Er, yeah, you can also do that............" Lilith muttered angrily. 'Stupid barbaric, psychotic youkai…'

The two continue to head north, but an unexpected, freaky 'blood storm' forced them to take shelter under a giant tree. Basically, the rain was the same color as blood, and it was deadly to demons. Ranma found that out the hard way. He thought it was just like the Makai evil fruit so he shrugged at Lilith's warnings, but he ran like hell when his wings suddenly caught on fire. The puzzling part was that it only affected demons and nothing more.

Lilith curled up on one side of the tree while Ranma sat on the opposite side. Oh, when will she find her? For every day that has gone by, her desire to find her grew. It wasn't easy resisting this urge, this strong desire to be one with her body. The one that gave her this body promised that he would help her find her other half if she worked for him and his plans, but it was simply taking way too long. Now this hybrid came into the picture, and he has the power to find just about anyone in this realm if he was at full strength. She had to admit, he's alright once you get used to him, and his power can restore her quite easily to boot. All in all, things were looking good for her.

She was shaken out of it when she heard someone singing. She got up and couldn't help but blink when the one singing was none other than Mr. Weird and Creepy. She peeked a little and to say that she wasn't disturbed at what she saw would be the friggin understatement of the year. She immediately clutched her sides tightly so as not to throw up right then and there. 'What is with him?'

You lie…

Suddenly before me

Your tears, they mean nothing to me

No wind, all another window

The love you never gave, I give to you

Really don't deserve it…

But now, there's nothing you can do

So sleep, in your only membrane

Hug me, my dearest mother…

Here's a lullaby to close your eyes

It was always you that I despised

I don't feel enough for you to cry

Here's a lullaby to close your eyes

…Goodbye

There was nothing wrong with singing a gentle, albeit weird tune such as that, it's just that the tears and the eerie smile on Ranma's face as he sang it was the one that disturbed her. Not to mention the way he peeled off a portion of his skin was too much to watch even for her, the so-called 'bad' side of her original self.

She went back to her spot and sat down with a sigh. Gazing intently at the ground before her, Lilith pondered on what she just saw. Mr. Creepy just got creepier. Who was he referring to in that song anyway? Her curiosity was piqued because he never really talked about himself. Either he'd snub her inquiry or he'd simply say something to piss her off.

Creepiness aside, the two of them do share some similarities. The two of them have child-like personalities, though that personality of hers was a mask to fool others, it was part of her nonetheless. Ranma was a little different from her though. His childish innocence was not an act, personal experience told her that much. There were quite a number of times where she thought of him as a little boy trapped inside a man's body. Heheh, scary… now that she thought about it, what would a psychotic child do if he had S-class type powers? Go on a rampage? Kill everyone in sight? Er, get rid of a succubus that he found so annoying? Scary thought indeed.

As much as she hated to admit it, her powers pale in comparison to Ranma's or her other half. Hmph, she doesn't even care what class she belonged to for she knew that it was not her true power, not at the moment anyway. Still, she was confident that she could go toe to toe with a lower A-class demon because of her, well, special techniques, techniques that her other half did not know about. She guessed that Ranma already knew that because he became a little more wary towards her as of late.

Speaking of which, the hybrid just walked past her. He had an eerie smile on his somewhat blank look as he walked into the dark forest in front of her. "Now where is he going?" she whispered. The rain had stopped so she sighed, got up, and chased after her reluctant partner. "Ranma, wait up! Mou… hey, wait for me!"

Raizen sat alone at the very top chamber of his tower. He snarled and gritted his teeth when his stomach growled once more. The urge was acting up again. He hunched over, breathing heavily and sweating profusely. Yes, he simply cannot hold on much longer. There was no denying it, his time was near. He knew it, Yomi and Mukuro knew it. He chuckled a bit, he never would've thought that he will die by starvation, but this was the path he chose.

It was the least of his concerns at the moment. A lot of unexplained things were happening around the realm. New powerful creatures were popping up out of the woodwork, blood rains were a lot more frequent in the past few weeks, the different levels of Makai were experiencing quite a large number of tremors, and the most recent was the mysterious disappearance of several powerful demon families. No, not just the families, but their castles, towers, palace, all of it disappeared along with them. He wouldn't have cared about that last one if the first castle to vanish wasn't from that accursed family.

Raizen snarled as he punched right through a wall, anger was evident on his face. Most of his friends and comrades died when that family decided to feast on weak demonic souls hundreds of years ago. As a low-level demon, he didn't have the strength to fight them so he fled, he escaped like a coward. He fled to Ningenkai, but the human world at the time was full of people with strong reiki, not to mention most of them hated demons with a passion. Wounded and injured from his fight with that accursed family, it wasn't long until they sensed him, forcing him to escape from the human world as well.

A small smile crept on the wargod's face. That was the time he met her. She tended to his wounds even though she knew that he was a youkai. Their encounter was interesting to say the least. He was stubborn while she was defiant. Raizen chuckled at that, he came to her house with the intent of killing her but instead the two of them shared a rather intimate evening together. It was the event that changed his life forever.

Vowing to never eat another human, he focused on getting stronger to keep his mind off the urge. Several years have gone by, he has gained a lot of fame, and a lot of followers as he continued to stick to his vow. He became so strong that when the original rulers of Makai died one by one, he was the first to be requested to take over one of the three positions, and he was more than willing to accept.

With the power he held, he quickly ordered the extermination of the Dohma family. Yomi and Mukuro were more than happy to help him out, as well as most of the demons in the realm. Unfortunately, a few of them had escaped and several years later, one of them showed up in Makai. How ironic, a hybrid for a descendant of the Dohma family, and it mirrored his own situation.

"Lord Raizen…?"

Raizen looked up and stared coolly at the bald-headed monk. "What is it, Hokushin?"

"Uh, yes, um, my lord, we are ready to go to Ningenkai."

The wargod closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "Fine, I want you to go to Ningenkai and get my descendant to come here. The situation has changed. I want him here in Makai as soon as possible. Now go."

Hokushin nodded and began to take his leave. He stopped however, when Raizen practically roared in rage. He turned around and his eyes widened when Raizen's aura flared to life. "My lord, what's the matter?"

"Hmph… I knew it… when there's one, there's bound to be another. Dohma family, the original cause of misfortune and turmoil in Makai, a pest that needs to be crushed once and for all." he said as he stood up and walked out of his chambers, much to the shock of his followers.

Yomi smiled as he entered one of the chambers of his palace, a chamber made for a special person. Yes, a demon was locked up in this room, one of those responsible for his suffering, his eternal darkness, and ironically, his rise to power. He really didn't need to see the demon's suffering, hearing his cries and screams of pain and agony was enough. What lied in front of him was a wasp-like creature, though he didn't look like it at the moment. His arms were chained to the wall, his limbs dismembered, and the best part was that they were keeping him alive in order for him to feel more pain.

The wasp creature moved his head slightly. "P-Please… kill… m-me… h-have m-m-mercy…"

"Hmph, no, I won't let you die so easily. Another person still needs to see your miserable face." Yomi said, anger creeping into his voice. He walked closer and slapped the demon several times. "Tell me again, who ordered you to kill me and my group? Tell me again! Who ordered you to assassinate me?!"

"Y-Youko… K-Kura… ma…"

Yomi smiled and slapped the demon one more time. He then began to chuckle to himself, the chuckle soon turned into a full-blown laughter. "Ha ha ha ha ha!!! It was none other than my old friend! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" he repeated over and over again. "My dear friend, I can't wait to see how much you've changed over the years! Hahahaha!"

He snapped out of it when he sensed Raizen's sudden flare of energy. "Oh? He's headed for Mukuro's domain. Heh, it looks like the three of us need to talk." he chuckled. He looked at the wasp-like creature one more time, then turned around and walked away, a serious look marring his features.

Mukuro looked at the man kneeling in front of her with interest. The man has slicked long hair that was tied up in a ponytail. He was wearing a simple light-blue, worn-out robe. He was pierced all over his body, and in his right hand was a special curved weapon, a razor-sharp hoop if you will. "Well, well, it has been awhile Shigure. I assume that you know the reason as to why I summoned you back here?"

Shigure chuckled slightly as he looked up with a smirk and stared Mukuro in the eye. "Heh, it's quite obvious Mukuro since there is only one reason for you to be calling me back so soon from your army frontline."

"Yes, yes, how silly of me."

"Hiei, hmm, now that name brings back a lot of memories." Shigure pondered aloud. He stood up and gave Mukuro a wide grin. "I would assume that you want me to go to Ningenkai and test him?"

Mukuro chuckled. "That is not necessary Shigure. He'll come to us…" she answered cryptically. She watched as Shigure nodded and took his leave, leaving her and one of her generals in the room. The general was a large, muscled man wearing a stone mask and large armor. Mukuro motioned for him to come closer. "Kiri…"

"Yes, my lady?"

"Did the Jaganshi receive my invitation as planned?"

Kiri nodded. "Yes, but our messenger has unfortunately been killed."

"I see… that is all, you may go now."

Mukuro waited for her general to go out the door before letting off a soft chuckle. "Hm hm, perhaps the messenger did something to annoy him." she mused. She suddenly snapped her head up when she felt Raizen's burst of power. "He's… moving. If that's the case then it is as I suspected, that scourge lives once more and if my guess is right, he still hasn't dropped his plans." she mumbled angrily. She tore off her bandages and seals, frowned, and then went out the room with a determined look.

A tall figure sat on the throne room of a fairly large castle. He has light-blue, liquid-like skin and a set of familiar metallic bat-like wings on his back. He was one of the original rulers of Makai, the newly resurrected Jedah Dohma. He slumped slightly on his throne, a small frown evident on his face. The current rulers should've noticed that last power surge by now. It was unavoidable, the power was necessary for the 'other' gate to fully open. Jedah smiled at that, Reikai was still clueless to its existence even after all these years. Enma Daioh, a fool through and through.

Truly ironic, they deemed him as a scourge, a plague, a bloodthirsty monster that struck fear into the hearts of every demon he came across, yet it was he who always thought about the future of Makai. He was the only one among the original rulers who really cared for the well-being of the realm. Why can they not understand that? All the things he did, he did it for Makai. Unlike Galnan Voshtal and Berial Aensland, there was no room for selfishness in his heart, not now, not ever.

His kind were born soul stealers, they feed off its energy in order to prolong their lives. A rare kind indeed, they were not like most demons that feast on humans in order to live. His kind… that was the only thing he regretted. Shortly after he was resurrected, he learned that his family suffered the repercussions of his failure. He did not want that to happen to them because they really had no knowledge of his plans whatsoever. To put it simply, they were innocent and did not deserve to be slaughtered like dogs. But there was nothing he could do about it now. As much as he hated to admit it, there was no way to undo the past.

"Lord Jedah…"

Jedah looked up and stared coolly at the humanoid bee hovering in front of him. "Is something the matter, Q-bee?"

Q-bee leaned in closer and whispered a few words to his ear.

'I still have family?' "I… see… that is certainly interesting. However, it is of no importance at this time. Q-bee, assemble your army. There has been a slight change in plans. My dimensional realm still needs more energy for it to stabilize so…" Jedah smiled a bit, a sick and twisted smile to be precise. "We are going to hunt at daybreak."

Q-bee smiled as well, knowing full well what he meant by those words. Her tribe will get to have another feast if all goes well. She bowed her head and flew away, her smile not leaving her face. Makai has become nothing more than a mere playground to them, a playground full of souls to eat.

"Ranma, where are you?" The succubus shouted. For someone who doesn't even have a quarter of his powers, he sure could run fast. She lost him after only a couple of minutes, fast indeed. Glancing around, she noticed something to her side. She walked towards it, and after going through a few bushes and trees, she finally saw the hybrid. He was standing in front of a large and well-built castle. She silently walked towards him, admiring the castle as she did so.

Ranma took a second to look at Lilith. "You look like hell."

Lilith ignored the quip and continued to stare at the castle in awe. "Now, this is a castle. The owner must really be rich! He's a higher noble for sure!"

"Yeah, quite a nice castle he chose this time around." A voice behind them said off-handedly.

The two turned around and saw a tall man with white hair. He was wearing a black vest with empty gun holsters, red jaded pants, a pair of black boots, and a long dark-red trenchcoat. A sword that was producing noticeable electric arcs was strapped to his back. A hybrid, that much they could tell, but they do not know what kind of demon the man originated from. Lilith became very uneasy, she had good reason to. Although she was back at full strength, she didn't even sense him when he snuck up on them.

Ranma on the other hand, just looked at the man with innocent curiosity. 'Oh wow, someone like me! He certainly looks strong, wonder how he'd fare in a fight.' "Who are you?"

"Me?" The man asked, amused. He chuckled as he casually placed his hands at the back of his head. A second later, he grabbed the set of handguns that popped out of his sleeves, and then he pointed it to Ranma and Lilith's heads before they could even react. The man gave the two a huge smirk as his guns made a whirring sound as it began to gather energy. "I'm just every demon's worst nightmare."

AN: Mwahahaha! I'm having a blast writing this. Gee, wonder who that smirking man was. Anyway, DMC takes place when he decides to take a trip 'all the way to hell'. Oh, don't worry, I'm using his DMC1 character. (The badass one) Oh, Ranma's 'lullaby' was from a song in Silent Hill 4: The Room called Room of Angel, sung by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn. Well, back to work on the other fics… Ja!

Next: Dance Macabre

"I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it!"